Rescue to the Rescue
by Reid Phantom
Summary: Peter puts E.D.I.T.H. to work on the Elemental's case and something doesn't seem to be adding up. - "No matches found under Quentin Beck. Expanding search." "That's alright, he's not exactly from around -" "Match found in Stark Industries database."
1. Something's Fishy

**I felt like SMFFH needed more Rescue. That's literally the entire reason for this. Love me some Pepper.**

* * *

"What else can you do, E.D.I.T.H.?"

_"I can do lots of things," _she - she? Do AIs even have a gender? Or just preferred pronouns? Vision had gone by male pronouns, but was that because he was male or he just preferred male pronouns? Or did everyone just automatically use male pronouns and he'd never corrected them? What about F.R.I.D.A.Y.? Oh man, had Peter been misgendering Karen by calling them a suit _lady _this entire time? - said.

Peter opened his mouth to ask how genders worked for AIs when he suddenly realized that during his metal speculation, E.D.I.T.H. had gone on to answer his question and Peter had completely missed part of it.

"Um, E.D.I.T.H.?"

_"… inform- Yes, Peter?" _she asked, only to continue a second later with, _"Oh, I failed to notice your distraction. I apologize." _

Peter blushed and slumped down further in his seat. "No, no, I'm sorry. I should have been paying better attention."

_"Research shows those of your condition can display difficulties with focusing during long speeches or lectures. I will make a note to keep better track in the future so I can properly assist you." _

Fingers coming up to run over the smooth metal of the glasses' temples, he gave a small smile. "Thanks, E.D.I.T.H."

_"Of course, Peter. Would you prefer I send a list of my capabilities to your phone so you can read through it instead?" _

"Oh, that would be great!" Peter blushed again as a couple of his classmates turned to look at him, ducking his head and pulling out his phone and headphones. He quickly stuck the earbuds in his ears and plugged them in to make it look like he was talking on the phone. "Um, yeah, you can do that. Thanks."

_"Your welcome." _

The file popped up on his phone's screen and he quickly opened it. "So, E.D.I.T.H.," he hummed scrolling through the list. "What pronouns do you use?"

_"… I'm sorry, I don't understand the question." _

"Like, what's your gender? You sound like a woman, but, like, do AIs have genders? I don't know how that works, sorry."

_"I was not programmed with a gender." _

"So you're agender?"

_"That would be the closest identifier according to my findings, yes." _

"That's cool. So what pronouns should I use for you?"

_"I have no preference either way." _

Peter's eyes stopped on 'Can access security and traffic cameras for surveillance purposes.' "Would you mind if I use female pronouns, then? That's kind of what I've been using in my head."

_"That is fine." _

"Cool, just let me know if you change your mind. Hey, this says you can scan through a bunch of security feeds and stuff right? Would you be able to pick up anything on Mysterio?" Maybe if he could find out something about the elementals that could help Mr. Beck, then Mr. Fury would leave him alone to enjoy his trip.

_"Mysterio?" _

"He's a superhero. Quentin Beck. He fought a big water monster in Venice yesterday."

_"Four hundred seventy-three matches found for the name Quentin Beck, attempting to narrow results." _Flashes of images flew by faster than even Peter's enhanced eyes could keep up with. Finally, it settled on a blurry picture of Mr. Beck in his suit and helmet. _"Many surveillance systems for the area, both on the ground and in orbit, were disrupted due to energy anomalies during the fight, but I have located various videos posted online from civilian and news resources. Is this the person you are asking after?" _

Peter frowned and perked up. Something knocked-out surveillance systems? That's ominous. Was it a result of the elemental's powers? Or maybe some sort of radiation-like output given off by Mr. Beck and the creatures because they were from another universe? But then why would it only happen during the fight? "Yeah, that's him. How long before and after the fight did the energy anomalies happen?"

_"The anomalies began approximately thirty-nine minutes before the creature is first noted on social media, building in strength until just before the creature's arrival. They then remained steady until cutting off completely just after Quentin Beck left the scene." _

That makes no sense. There should have been a decay in the energy just like there was a build-up. And if the energy was completely tied to the elemental - and considering there was no change in power when Mr. Beck arrived, then it should be - then the power change should have happened when it was defeated, not when Mr. Beck flew off.

_"Peter, would you like me to continue searching for Quentin Beck?" _

Peter bit his lip, his hand coming up to rub against the glasses again. "Yeah. Try matching his suit to security footage around Venice before and after the disturbance. Try to find something with his helmet off."

_"Searching." _More flash-forward pictures flashed across the lenses.

Peter glanced towards Ned, wanting to talk about this with someone, but his best friend was nuzzled up against Betty watching a video.

_"Match found." _A picture of Mr. Beck standing next to Nick Fury came up. It zoomed in on Mr. Beck. _"Running facial recognition." _

"It's just like on TV," Peter whispered, watching the program run.

_"No matches found under Quentin Beck. Expanding search." _

"That's alright, he's not exactly from around -"

_"Match found in Stark Industries database." _Peter's eyes widened as a picture settled next to the one of Mr. Beck. The man in the picture looked exactly like a clean-shaven, more put together, and slightly younger Mr. Beck. _"Dr. Ludwig Rinehart worked for Stark Industries for seven years before being fired in twenty-sixteen after a mental break that resulted in him attempting to steal files from Stark Industries and making multiple threats against the life of Tony Stark and his loved ones. His most notable credited work is the basis for the hyper-realistic holograms used in the Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing, which was also his point of contention with Mr. Stark." _

"So let me get this straight," Peter sighed, letting his head tilt back and closing his eyes. "This guy has fancy tech and a grudge against Mr. Stark?"

_"That is an accurate summary." _

"And he looks just like Mr. Beck?"

_"There was a ninety-nine point seven percent match." _

"Could be just a coincidence. I mean, how many guys with fancy tech and grudges against Mr. Stark have actually done something bad about it?"

_"Compiling a list for you now." _

Peter peaked his eyes open for just long enough to catch a flash of Justin Hammer and Ivan Vanko before closing his eyes again. "That's okay, E.D.I.T.H. It was a rhetorical question."

It could be a coincidence. Mr. Beck was from an alternate universe - although, hadn't Peter already explained why that idea was weird? - so it's not entirely unlikely that someone from Peter's universe could look just like him.

Peter buried his fingers in his hair and looked at Ned again. "I need to talk to someone about this before it drives me crazy."

_"Mr. Hogan, Mrs. Parker, and Mrs. Potts are listed as emergency contacts for you. Should I try one of them?" _

"Aunt May will just freak out and Happy will just tell me to trust Mr. Fury and get annoyed at my ramblings."

_"Should I try Mrs. Potts then?" _

Ned caught his eye and frowned. "You okay dude, you've got that look on your face?"

Look? What look? "Yeah," he said, before tilting his head towards Betty, hoping Ned would get the point and separate from his new girlfriend long enough for them to talk.

_"Contacting Mrs. Potts." _

"What? Wait, E.D.I.T.H., no," he hissed quietly and turned away. In the corner of his eye, he saw Ned shrug before focusing back on Betty.

_"You have reached the personal number of Mrs. Virginia Potts, CEO of Stark Industries," _a feminine voice with an Irish lilt answered. _"I do not recognize this number. Please state your business and I will happily schedule an appointment for you." _

Peter blinked. "I thought her name was Pepper," he muttered. Was Pepper her middle name? Or a nickname? How did he not know this?

_"Oh, Peter, I'm sorry," _F.R.I.D.A.Y. said, voice sounding warmer. _"I did not realize it was you. Are you borrowing a phone?" _

"Uh, no. I'm using E.D.I.T.H. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to -"

_"I will log E.D.I.T.H.'s number for future reference. I'll let Mrs. Boss know you're calling her." _

"Wait!" Why do Mr. Stark's AIs always do this to him? "I don't want to bother her. She's probably got important things going on."

_"Mrs. Boss is currently unoccupied. She will be with you in a second." _

"But -"

_"Hello?" _

"H-hey, Mrs. Potts," Peter stuttered, burying his face in his hands. "Sorry to bother you."

_"You're never a bother, Peter. It's good to hear from you. How are you? Happy told me you went on a school trip to Europe. How is it?" _

"I'm okay. The trip is… something. Um -"

_"Petey! Is that Petey?" _

_"Yes, Morgan, it's Peter. Would you like to say hi?" _

_"HI PETEY!" _

Peter smiled, even if he couldn't help but flinch at the loud voice right in his enhanced ears. "Hey, little Lady Morgana."

_"Is Petey coming over?" _

_"Not today," _Pepper chuckled. _"He's on a school trip, remember? Maybe when he gets back he can come over." _

"I'd love to!" Peter answered automatically. "I mean, if it's okay."

_"Of course it's okay. You and May are always welcome. You can bring your friends too. You three could do with getting out of the city for a little bit this summer." _

_"Sleepover!?" _Morgan cheered.

_"We'll see." _

"Technically we're out of the city right now," Peter pointed out.

_"Yes, from one city into another. You guys were going to Venice and Paris right?" _

"Prague, actually, not Paris."

_"Well, that's good for culture, but you kids could do with some nature in your life." _

Peter's nose scrunched up at the idea of camping or marching through bug-filled forests. He _liked _the city, thank you very much. "Sounds great, Mrs. Potts."

_"I can _hear _you making a face, Peter. Honestly, you are so much like -" _

Pepper cut herself off, but that didn't stop the grief-guilt-pain mix from flooding through him.

_"Anyways, I thought I told you to call me Pepper. So, where are you right now?" _

"Uh… Austria? I think? I know we're in the Alps," he said, glancing out the window.

_"That is correct, Peter. You are currently in the Central Eastern Alps," _E.D.I.T.H. helpfully provided. _"Would you like to know your exact location?" _

"That's okay, E.D.I.T.H. Thanks."

_"You have E.D.I.T.H.?" _Pepper asked.

"Yeah, Mr. Fury said Mr. Stark left her for me. Is that… Am I not supposed to have her?" Peter's voice matched hers in confusion. Had Mr. Stark not left the glasses to him after all?

_"No, or yes. Tony left them to you. I just didn't think you'd get them already. I would have thought to wait until you're eighteen, after graduation. I should have known Fury would meddle though. That man. Has he been bothering you? Is that why you seemed weird when I asked about the trip?" _

"Kind of. Did you, uh, see what happened in Venice yesterday?"

_"I think I heard something about a water monster. Oh! Oh, Peter, did you get dragged into that? I'm sorry. I know you were really hoping to get a break from all that nonsense during your trip." _

Peter felt something relax in him for the first time since seeing the suit in his suitcase. He didn't know why, but Mrs. Potts was the only one that really understood why he had wanted to take a vacation from Spider-Man during the trip.

"Yeah, and right after Mr. Fury dragged me off. It, um," Peter glanced at his classmates and scooted down in his seat again, lowering his voice. "I guess there's more of those monsters, one for each element. Or natural element I guess. You know, earth, wind, water, and fire. They're called elementals. At least, according to Mr. Beck."

_"Mr. Beck?" _

"He's the guy that fought the water elemental yesterday."

_"Oh, right, I think I saw him in the news. They didn't give a name though. Is he a new superhero?" _

"That's… kind of what I wanted to talk about. E.D.I.T.H. and I were checking some stuff, but something feels weird, and I really need to talk it out to someone, but I didn't want to worry Aunt May and Happy always gets grumpy when I ramble even though I know he doesn't mean anything by it."

_"Grumpy," _Morgan chuckled and Peter jumped, having forgotten she was there.

_"Honey, why don't you go back to your movie. Peter and I need to talk about business stuff right now." _

_"Okay," _Morgan groaned and Peter could just see her pout in his head. _"Bye Petey." _

"Bye. I'll come see you when I get back, okay."

_"Promise?" _

"Pinky promise."

_"You can't pinky promise over the phone," _the girl snorted and a moment later he heard a door shut.

_"Okay, now tell me what's wrong?" _Pepper said in that voice Peter had only ever heard her use while visiting Stark Industries for something. Business Pepper, MJ called it with approving eyes when she'd overheard Peter explaining it to Ned.

Peter thought over how to start. "Do you know a guy named Dr. Ludwig Rinehart?" he ended up going with.

_"The name's familiar. He was on the B.A.R.F. project, right?" _

Peter couldn't help the chuckle that slipped out. Yeah, Mr. Stark definitely liked his acronyms. "Yeah, then he got fired for sending threats to Mr. Stark."

_"Oh yes, him. Does he have something to do with these elementals?" _

"Maybe. See, after the water guy attacked, Mr. Fury showed up in my hotel room and shot Ned with a tranquilizer dart then dragged me away to his secret hideout." Peter paused as he heard Mrs. Potts mutter something under her breath, but he couldn't make it out and she didn't say anything else so he continued, "That's when I met Mr. Beck - Quentin Beck - and he explained that he and the elementals came from another universe - which I thought was crazy because that would change what we understand about - Oh, sorry I almost started rambling. Sorry, Mrs. Potts."

_"It's fine, Peter. I'm used to it," _Pepper said, sounding fond. _"So Beck and these elementals came from another universe? How?" _

"Mr. Beck said it was because of something to do with the Infinity Stones, but I'm actually starting to wonder how true his story might be because E.D.I.T.H. and I were looking into the water monster attack and I noticed some weird energy anomalies, well E.D.I.T.H. pointed them out, but I noticed what was weird about them. I figured they were connected to the elemental because they start to build up right before it shows, but then they just vanish without any decay and there's a weird delay between it's defeated and when the energy disappears. And it's weird that it just so happens to interfere with security systems, right?"

_"What do you mean it interferes with security systems?" _Pepper asked and Peter could hear what sounded like her fingers tapping at a tablet.

"Oh, well E.D.I.T.H.'s connected to a bunch of surveillance stuff, but everything in that area is disrupted during the fight. We figured it out when I tried to look up the fight. I figured maybe E.D.I.T.H. might be able to help out with taking down the elementals, but she couldn't see anything about the fight because of the disruption. All we can go on at that time is news footage and social media."

_"That certainly does sound odd." _

"Or convenient?" Peter offered.

_"Definitely suspicious," _Pepper agreed and Peter smiled. _"How does this connect to Rinehart? And why are you getting involved? I thought you were on vacation. If Beck is handling this, then you should let him." _

"I was going to, but then Mr. Fury kidnapped our vacation."

_"WHAT!?" _

"Y-yeah," Peter said, his shoulders creeping up. "He said the next elemental was supposed to show up in Prague, but I told him I didn't want to leave my class, and he said he understood so I thought that was the end of it, but then it turned out that he just used his super-spy tactics to get our class sent to Prague instead of Paris like we were originally supposed to. The bus we're taking is even being driven by one of his guys."

_"He… I'm going to have words with that man." _Peter shivered at the anger in her voice. _"Okay, I'll deal with Fury. Just stay away from his people and stick to your class until I can get this taken care of, alright? This is not something you should be having to deal with, especially not while on vacation." _

"He said he needed me," Peter explained, though he couldn't help but feel a bit relieved that this was being taken out of his hands.

_"He could have called Rhodey, or Wilson or Barnes or literally anyone that wasn't a grieving seventeen-year-old currently on a well-deserved vacation!" _Pepper snapped.

"Right." Peter's fingers once more landed on the glasses. "Thanks."

_"Of course, sweety." _

Peter probably would have blushed at the endearment, had he not been distracted by the bus stopping for gas. He stuck his phone back in his pocket, but kept the headphones on.

_"Back to Rinehart?" _she said, her voice more controlled now.

"Right." Peter stood up and followed his classmates off the bus. "So after we figured that out, I asked -" Peter cut off when Dimitri held his arm out to stop him as soon as he stepped off the bus.

The man pointed to where a tall, scary-looking blonde woman was standing in a doorway.

_"Peter?" _

As the woman disappeared into the building, Peter turned to Dimitri with a nervous smile. "Sorry, I was told to stay with my class."

Ignoring the man's glare, Peter followed after the others before ducking behind a barn.

_"Peter, what's going on?" _

"We're at a rest stop. Mr. Fury's guy, the one driving the bus, tried to get me to go with some woman. I did what you said though." He said, looking over at where he could see MJ studying a large spider web out of earshot. He shivered, imaging the spider that must have made it.

Then Dimitri stepped around the corner, sending another shiver down his spine.

_"Good." _

He took a step back at the bad feeling he was getting.

"Fury said -" the man began.

"I'm on the phone," Peter interrupted, pointing at his headphones.

_"E.D.I.T.H. can you transfer me to Peter's phone and put me on speaker, please?" _Pepper asked, a touch of annoyance in her voice.

_"Would you like me to do that, Peter?" _

"Sure," Peter answered, pulling out his phone and unplugging his headphones.

_"Excuse me, sir, but Peter and I are having a private conversation about confidential Stark Industries business." _

"Mrs. Potts," the man growled, scowling at the sound of her voice. "I work with Fury. We need -"

_"I'm sorry, but this is an urgent matter that I would like Peter to be involved in due to his status as CTO in training." _

If anything, the man's scowl grew as he looked up at Peter. "CTO in training?"

Peter blushed. Mr. Stark had had him take an active role in Stark Industries after the whole Vulture incident, but he'd never put a name to it. Peter had just figured it was making the whole internship story legit. Was he seriously considered a CTO in training? What did a CTO even do?

_"Yes, now if you'll excuse us?" _

Peter was getting serious death glare vibes from the man, but thankfully he turned and left.

"He's gone," Peter said, sticking the earbuds back in.

_"I'm seriously going to tear Fury - I mean, nevermind," _Pepper blustered, her audio returning to the glasses.

Peter snickered. "I'm seventeen. I do know what you were going to say, you know."

_"Hush. You are the pure kid and I will keep it that way!" _

"Me?"

_"Yes, you," _Pepper groaned. _"Morgan told me that I own the word _shit _the other day and Harley… goes without saying." _

"She told you what?" Peter laughed, leaning back against the barn.

_"Peter, Rinehart." _

"Right," he chuckled before focusing. "So after looking into the energy thing, I had E.D.I.T.H. track down a picture of Mr. Beck without his helmet and then she ran facial recognition. Rinehart was the result."

_"Beck is Rinehart?" _

"Either that or he looks just like him. Different universes and all that. But considering how often supervillains tend to have stupid grudges against Mr. Stark and all the weirdness about his story and the energy anomalies…"

_"Better safe than sorry?" _

"Yeah. He's into holograms, right? Maybe he's faking the attacks for some reason. He'd be able to cause a lot of damage without getting any of the blame because everyone thinks he's the one who saved the day."

_"Holograms wouldn't be able to cause actual damage." _

"Holograms covering robots would though. Or maybe drones?"

_"Weaponized drones!" _Pepper gasped. _"Like the ones for E.D.I.T.H. They would definitely be able to cause that kind of damage. More, even, depending on how many there were." _

"E.D.I.T.H. has weaponized drones!?" Peter pulled out his phone and started looking over the list again.

_"For emergencies," _she emphasized.

"Do all the AIs have Instant-Kill Modes or only mine," he grumbled, glaring at the list.

_"He worried about you. We all do. We just want you to be as safe as possible." _

Peter glanced over as he heard Mr. Harrington call out and he slowly made his way towards the bus. "Right. So you think there might be something to it? The whole Rinehart thing."

_"While I wouldn't say alternate universes are a crazy idea at this point - heaven knows after time travel and aliens and… What has life even become since Tony put on that stupid suit?" _Pepper muttered that last part and Peter fidgeted with the wire for the headphones as he realized he wasn't supposed to hear it. _"Anyways, I think looking a little closer to home first might be a good idea. I've got a few contacts, both my own and some of Tony's, that I can check in with. Just try to stay out of trouble for now and let me know about any changes. I'll let you know as soon as I've found anything out." _

"Yes, ma'am," he said, coming up to the end of the line to get back onto the bus. He tried to ignore both the insult Flash snipped at him when he stood next to him and the boring eyes of Dimitri.

_"Be careful," _she reiterated.

"I will. Talk to you later."

_"You better."_

* * *

**Anyone else catch that Beck insinuated that's not actually his name?**


	2. Debrief

Peter tried to listen to Mr. Harrington explain about the Festival of Lights, but got distracted when something slammed into his legs, causing him to drop his suitcase.

"Nice one, Penis," Flash snorted under his breath.

Peter looked down and his eyes widened. "M-Morgan! What the - What are you doing here?"

The five-year-old peaked up at him through messy brown locks. "I heard mommy was going to come see you so I snuck on the plane like you taught me."

Peter immediately went pale and scooped her up. Oh God, Pepper was going to kill him.

Peter's phone began to ring in his pocket, but he ignored it.

"I - That's not - Morgan, super sneaky skills are supposed to be used to play hide-and-seek, not for stowing away on international flights!"

Morgan pouted. "But I wanted to see you," she said with a whimper in her voice that Peter immediately knew was fake, but that didn't stop him from feeling bad because he was a sucker. He knew he was, but he couldn't help it. He was weak!

"Oh, milady, it's okay. Just please don't do that again, alright?"

Morgan nodded and tucked her face into his neck.

"Since when did he have a sister?" Brad asked and Peter looked up to see his classmates and teachers staring at him. All were gaping aside from Ned. He already knew Morgan, even if they'd never met, so he just looked starstruck as usual when around people Peter knew from his other life.

Morgan looked up. "I was born during the Blip."

And that was not the right thing to say, Peter thought.

"I thought Parker was an orphan," Flash said, glancing between the two."

"Daddy adopted him," the girl said before turning away from the strangers. "Can you take me to the carnival?"

It took Peter a moment to come back to his senses, so he completely missed the second part. "What? I'm no- Your dad didn't _adopt me!_" he sputtered, his voice going high at the end.

Frowning, she pulled at a lock of her hair. "But Uncle Happy said daddy picked you up off the street."

"Th-that's just Happy being Happy! He didn't mean it like that! Your dad just…" Peter scrambled for thought, glancing around. Everyone was staring at him with bemusement now aside from the still starstruck Ned as well as Brad, Flash, and MJ, who all looked amused at his humiliation through the boys' thankfully seemed darker than MJ's. Oh, and Dimitri, who was staring him and Morgan down in that creepy way he'd been staring at Peter since the rest stop, which really didn't help anything. "He didn't adopt me," Peter finished pitifully.

"As good as," a voice called and the group turned to see Pepper strutting into the room.

"Is that _the _Pepper Potts!?" Yasmin hissed, which was immediately followed by Betty's, "Is that _the _Morgan Stark!?"

"I found Petey," Morgan pointed out.

"I see that," Pepper said, before giving Peter a look. "Super sneaky skills?"

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Potts! I told her that was just for hide-and-seek! I swear I never meant for her to do something like this! It was just supposed to be a game! I'm so sorry! Please don't kill me!"

Pepper chuckled and shook her head. "Calm down, Peter. I'm not mad, and I'm certainly not going to kill you."

"Oh, thank God."

Pepper rolled her eyes at his dramatics.

"What _are _you here for, then?"

Before she could respond, Flash stepped forwards. "Hello, Mrs. Stark. I -"

"Potts," Pepper, MJ, and Peter corrected as one.

"What?" the bully said.

"Her last name is Potts, not Stark," Peter explained.

Flash sent him a glare before turning back to Pepper. "I apologize, I was under the impression you had married Tony Stark during the Blip."

Pepper gave him a blank look. "I did. I kept my name. Now, if you'll excuse me." Pepper turned to Peter with a smile back in place. "Peter, honey, can I borrow you for a second?"

"Why would you want to talk to Parker?" Flash snorted.

"You are an idiot," MJ pointed out blankly. "She just said Tony Stark practically adopted him, why _wouldn't _she want to talk to him?"

"He's got Morgan Stark on his hip calling him her big brother," Ned added, sounding slightly out of breath.

"Dude, Parker was Stark's kid!" Sebastian gasped. "The internship was real!"

"Do you think he ever got to touch the Iron Man suit?" Zach asked.

"Do you think he ever got to _fly _the Iron Man suit?" Josh shot back.

"Do you think he ever got to _work on _the Iron Man suit?" Zoha sighed dreamily. "I'd give anything to get my hands on that beautiful machine!"

"Dude, what if he's, like, actually Stark's kid?" Tyler said to Brad, who looked appalled at the idea. "What? Stark was a big playboy in the past, wasn't he? Could have happened."

"Oh my God, Peter, are you actually Tony Stark's son?" Betty asked, and oh man, where did her phone come from? Was she recording this?

That snapped Peter out of his second mental shutdown in under a half-hour and he searched for help.

Ned was glancing between his girlfriend and best friend like he was both questioning his entire life and being presented with a life-size LEGO model of the Millenium Falcon.

MJ was just smiling smugly at him, basking in the chaos.

His teachers looked completely lost.

Dimitri… Wow, Peter didn't think the guy's death glare could get worse, but there it was. Yikes.

Pepper was completely ignoring the rowdy teens, walking over to the teachers.

Which left Morgan.

"Of course Petey is Daddy's son."

Why do all the people in Peter's life treat him so?

"Wait, hold on, I'm not his son! I was just - was his intern. That's it! We just did… intern stuff together!" Peter stammered.

"Then why does she call you her brother? She was born during the Blip and would never have known you as his intern," Betty pointed out.

"Mrs. Potts asked me to babysit a few times after we came back since she had to do a bunch of cleanup and school didn't let us back in for a while so I wasn't busy," Peter tried to explain.

"And daddy used to tell me a bunch of stories about Petey!" Morgan chirped hugging him closer.

Judging by Betty's smile, neither explanation worked. "Why did Mrs. Potts call you honey?"

"Mrs. Potts, help!" Peter called out, giving up.

The CEO gave her best PR face when Betty turned to her. "I can confirm that Peter neither shares blood with my late husband nor was he adopted into our family." She gave Peter a wink and any relief he'd started to feel immediately fled him. "However, I can neither confirm nor deny that they shared a father-son relationship."

As expected, that makes Betty more excited. "So you've done a paternity test for Peter and Mr. Stark?"

"Well, no," Pepper said, smile fading slightly.

"Then you can't be sure!"

"You do know I did have a dad before, right?" he muttered to Betty, but she ignored him.

"So there could be a chance that Peter is Mr. Stark's!"

"No way, that's impossible!" Flash shouted and Betty focused on him to argue her case.

Peter buried his face in Morgan's hair as Pepper turned back to his teachers.

"Mr. Harrington, correct? Would you mind if I borrow Peter for a little bit? We won't leave the hotel; I have a small conference room set aside for us. I just need to speak to him about a project he's working on for Stark Industries. I would have done it over the phone, but it's better done in person. As he said you would be here and I was passing over the area, I figured I could stop to see if I could speak with him. If you're worried about guardian permission, then I'd be happy to wait for you to give May a call."

"N-no, that should be fine. He's, uh, mentioned the internship before," his teacher replied, sounding lost.

"Well, it's less an internship by this point and more a part-time job. You don't get as high up in R&D as he is in just the internship program. Thank you, all the same. Come on, Peter. I don't want to take up too much of your vacation time."

Peter groaned and grabbed his suitcase before following after her. As soon as they were out of earshot, he said, "Why did you tell them all that stuff?"

"It was all true, and you are far too humble to admit it," Pepper hummed.

"Petey's the best!" Morgan agreed with a nod.

"But Mr. Stark and I weren't like that!"

"Peter, I know how much you looked up to him, and I also know how much he adored you. He left you E.D.I.T.H. after all, and that's just the tip of the iceberg, though I _will _make sure you're the proper age before you receive the rest of your inheritance. Honestly, giving E.D.I.T.H. to a teenager!"

Inheritance!? The glasses were more than enough! What else could there be?

"The-the internship, that was just because I was Spider-Man. You didn't have to make a big deal of it."

Pepper gave him a smile and set her hand on his shoulder. "Listen to me, the Avengers were the Avengers and out of all of them, only Bruce ever came anywhere close to having your level of clearance, and he has seven PhDs. You are so smart, Peter. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You earned your right to be in Tony's labs."

Peter blushed, then blushed harder when she pressed a kiss on his forehead.

"And you're also family, so I've got to tease you sometimes. Now come on, someone's waiting for us."

Peter pouted as she continued on and Morgan giggled, patting his face.

"Oh hush, you," he whispered. He tossed her up and caught her before running after Pepper, the girl laughing the whole time.

Pepper smiled as she held the door open for them and Peter went to send her one back, but froze when he spotted a vaguely familiar woman inside the room. When Pepper opened the door, she had been fiddling mindlessly with the folder in front of her, boredly looking around the fancy conference room, but she immediately jumped to her feet as she spotted them.

"Mr. Parker," she greeted, pushing her yellow-tinted glasses onto the top of her head. "Nice to meet you again."

"I'm sorry, have we met?" he asked, stepping inside just enough for Pepper to follow and shut the door.

"Very briefly, years ago. More years for me than you, as it were," she explained with a laugh. She shot him a smirk when Pepper had to push him closer to the table, but didn't comment. "I'm the one Mr. Stark contacted to help with signing and classifying the modified version of the Sokovia Accords that were made up for you, given your age and responsibility levels."

"Oh, right! Ms. Draw? No, wait…"

"Jessica Drew, but you can just call me Jess."

"Peter, but I guess you already knew that, huh?" he chuckled, shifting Morgan to one side so he could offer the woman his hand. "So, not to be rude or anything, really, but why are you here?"

"Morgan, why don't you go play while we talk business?" Pepper took the girl and set her down, waving her towards a small table set up in the corner with a tea set serving a mix of stuffed toys and superhero action figures.

"Can we go to the carnival after?" she asked, giving Peter wide eyes.

"We'll see," Pepper said before he could respond. "You're still in trouble for sneaking around, remember?"

Morgan pouted, but clearly knew it would have no effect on her mother and marched over to her tea set.

With her distracted, the three sat down and Ms. Drew opened the folder. "Alright, Pepper filled me in on your theory. I agree that it's got some credibility so I did a little digging at her request." From the folder, she pulled out a picture similar to the one E.D.I.T.H. had shown him of Dr. Rinehart and set it in front of him. "So this is what our mystery man looks like under the fishbowl, right?"

"Basically. He's younger in this, and not as scruffy."

Ms. Drew nodded and placed more photos in front of him. "Do you recognize any of these people?"

Peter looked over the pictures, but none stood out. "I don't think so. Who are they?"

"They are former Stark Industries employees. Some of them quit, the others were fired, but they all hold unhidden grudges against either the company or its former owner. They were also all in Mexico during the catastrophe in Ixtenco, which my sources have linked to our mystery man, before traveling to various parts of southern Europe right before a mysterious cyclone hit Morocco."

Peter frowned, looking closer at the pictures. "Mr. Fury mentioned they'd defeated two of the elementals in Mexico and Morocco."

"I think I recognize a few of them. I'm guessing you think they could be working together," Pepper stated, glaring at a balding man in particular.

"If they are, they're certainly doing a fair job of covering their tracks. None of them arrived in Mexico at the same time or town. Some of them even arrived weeks apart from the others. And when they left, they did that separately as well, most from the same places they arrived in. Their arrival in Europe was a lot closer together timeline-wise, but still spread out physically. If I hadn't been looking specifically for something like this, I probably never would have even noticed."

"So Mr. Beck - I mean Dr. Rinehart - got together with a bunch of people who hate Mr. Stark and decided to trash a bunch of cities," Peter summarized, looking up at the women.

"That's the theory I'm working with right now," Ms. Drew said, nodding. "Still don't have motive, though. If I'm right about their hatred of Stark binding them together, why fake attacks and play the hero instead of going after Stark Industries or his family?"

"Maybe he wanted to get close to us?" Pepper offered. "Morgan and I might not be Avengers, but Peter is kind of a part-time Avenger or something. Not to mention we still keep in contact with most of the others - especially Rhodey who's basically family - and Stark Industries still lends aid to the group."

Peter tried to butt in that he wasn't really family so he shouldn't be considered motive, but Ms. Drew steamrolled over him. "You think he could be playing the hero to get an in with the Avengers? That would make more sense, especially since he's got Fury involved and the man was the one that started the whole initiative. And being an Avenger would make it stupidly easy to take whatever revenge this group might have in mind."

"He could ruin Iron Man," Peter said, his thoughts flying back to how Zemo had turned the Avengers against one another.

"We won't let that happen," Pepper said. She had fire in her eyes when Peter met her gaze.

"Technically, we still don't have proof that any of this is even true," Ms. Drew pointed out, gathering up all the pictures. "But we've got a solid theory, one backed up by means, motive, and eyewitness testimony. I'll talk to a few of my old colleagues in MI6 and some friends in Europol. If we bring a few of these guys in for questioning, hopefully we can get something a little more solid." She then dropped her glasses back over her eyes and leaned towards Peter. "Now, tell me everything you know about what's supposed to happen here."

"I don't know that much. According to Mr. Beck's story, the elementals were all attacking our earth in the same coordinates that they attacked his, so Mr. Fury knew the last elemental, the fire one, was going to attack here. Mr. Beck also said the fire one is the most dangerous since it's the one that destroyed his world."

Ms. Drew scowled. "Considering how much damage the other three did, I'm not looking forward to seeing what this _more dangerous _one is going to do. Is there a way for you to get more information?"

Peter tugged at the bottom of his shirt. "I could ask Mr. Fury if he knows anything else, but Pepper said to keep away from him and Mr. Beck might figure out we're digging around."

"Good call, on both your parts. The less we let on we're digging into Beck or Rinehart or whoever this mystery guy is, the better," Ms. Drew agreed. "And Fury can go f-jump off a bridge for dragging a teenager into this, especially against his will."

Peter's lips twitched up at the near swear and Pepper scowled.

"You can call him Mysterio," Peter offered. "That's what my class has been calling him. It's Italian."

"Works for me," she shrugged before shooing him off. "Alright, kid, if that's all you got for me, then I'll get to work. You enjoy your vacation."

"Carnival?" Morgan chirped and popped out from her hiding spot under the table, causing her mother and Ms. Drew to jump.

Peter smiled and scooped her up. Standing up and grabbing his suitcase, he turned to Pepper with a smile. "I don't mind taking her off your hands, Mrs. Potts, if that's okay. It's the least I can do after teaching her how to sneak around."

Pepper looked between the two and sighed. "Alright, we're going to be here for the night anyway and I'd like to give Jess a hand. Honestly, I'd prefer to get you both out of here right away, but that would be too suspicious, so please, just be careful."

"We'll stay out of trouble," Peter agreed and Pepper snorted.

"Oh, I have no delusions you'll get into trouble, just be safe about it."

Peter pouted as he began backing away. "We're not that bad."

"Yes you are, you get it from Tony. Take care and have fun."

Deciding to ignore the first part, he just nodded.

"Oh, and I'll have F.R.I.D.A.Y. put some money on your card so you can get you both a few things while you're out."

"That's not -"

"Think of it as payment for babysitting."

"Alright, I guess," Peter said, knowing she wouldn't back down. "We shouldn't be out too late." He turned to the other woman. "Bye, Ms. Drew. It was nice seeing you again. Thanks for the help."

"Jess, please, Peter. And anytime, just give me a call. Pepper has my number."

"Okay, Ms. Drew!"

He slipped out the door to the sound of her groan before swinging Morgan up onto his shoulders.

The girl let out a shriek before burying one of her hands into his hair and pointing forward. "Onwards!" she laughed.

Peter obliged, tromping into the lobby with an extra bounce in his step that left her giggling.

"Mr. Parker?" a heavily accented voice called and the two turned to see one of the hotel staff waiting for him. "Your class has already gone up to their rooms. Here is your keycard."

"Thank you." Peter took the small envelope with a grateful smile and the woman nodded before heading back towards the reception desk.

"Alright, milady, stairs or elevator?"

"Stairs!"

"As you wish!"

Ned was waiting for him outside his door when they reached the room listed on the envelope. "Dude, that was awesome! I can't believe Pepper Potts seriously just showed up on our trip to tell our class that the Tony Stark was your dad! What is your life!?"

Peter groaned and went into the room. "Come on, I was trying to forget that happened. It was so embarrassing!"

"Are you kidding? It was awesome! I think Tyler and Sebastian are still convinced he was literally your dad, like biologically! We're going to be so popular when we get back! Everyone's been going crazy! Good crazy! Well, except Flash. Oh, and Brad's not exactly happy either, but he hasn't said anything about it, unlike Flash. I think Flash is in denial. I heard him muttering about how you must have paid them to pretend to be Pepper and Morgan." Ned's eyes widened as he looked up at Morgan as if only now realizing she was perched on his best friend's shoulders. "Dude, are you babysitting right now? That's so cool!"

"Baby, where are you?" Betty called from the hall.

"I'm helping Peter babysit Morgan Stark!"

Peter rolled his eyes and set Morgan down on his bed before pulling open his suitcase to find something to wear to the carnival.

He spotted a bundle of black fabric on the room's desk, but ignored it.

* * *

**If you're curious, I imagine Katie McGrath playing the role of Jessica Drew. IDK why I made her British. It just seemed fitting.**

**As for why I had her show up: Honestly I just needed an agent and chose her for the fun of it when I realized she worked for both S.H.E.I.L.D. and S.W.O.R.D. in the comics. I do have a vague idea of her backstory in this context though.**


	3. Send Them Running

"And remember to stay in groups of three or four at all times," Mr. Harrington lectured. "Also -"

"Have fun!" Mr. Dell cut in, moving towards the doors. "Now let's go."

"Petey, can I have a bracelet, too?" Morgan asked as they started to follow the teacher out, pointing up at one of the glow bracelets he'd bought at Ned's insistence.

Most of the class were decked out in the glowing jewelry being sold by the hotel for the festival, but Peter had settled for just a pair of bracelets and a single necklace. Morgan, on the other hand, had on a pair of glasses, three necklaces, and a crown Zoha had constructed for her using a necklace and a bunch of interwoven bracelets.

"Sorry, I don't think they'd fit you," Peter apologized.

"Oh, here," Yasmin said, taking off one of her necklaces and wrapping it around Morgan's wrist thrice before snapping it closed. It was still a bit loose, but a much better fit than a bracelet would have been. "There you go!"

"Thank you," Morgan chirped with a wide smile and Zoha, Yasmin, and Betty cooed.

When they reached the crowded street, Peter let the small girl climb onto his back. "You're a ham," he chuckled, quiet enough that only she could hear.

"Just like daddy taught me," she whispered back before loudly saying, "Love you, Petey!" and pressing a kiss to his cheek, earning more cooing.

"You're going to grow up to be just like your mother," he chuckled, poking the manipulative girl in the side to hear her squeal.

"Mommy says daddy wasted all his dumb on you and Harley so I've gotta be like her," she giggled, poking his cheek.

When they reached the main carnival area, Morgan immediately pointed out the Ferris wheel.

"I'll go with you," MJ offered. "So you don't get in trouble for going off on your own."

"I'll come too," Brad quickly added.

"I don't think we'll all fit," MJ just said with a shrug. "We only need to be in threes, so we'll be good."

"Right. We can catch up after then," Brad said, voice even despite sending Peter a look.

MJ was right, in the end. The gondolas were two people only, or three with small children, so her, Peter, and Morgan barely fit. The three watched the fireworks in silence as they rose into the air, but as they neared the top Morgan turned to Peter and quietly asked, "Are you going to tell her now?"

Peter, and MJ who could easily overhear given how closely packed they were, looked down at her with bemusement. "What?"

"She's the scary one, right? I heard Aunt May and Uncle Happy talking about how you were going to tell her that y-"

Peter blushed and cut her off. "Yes. I mean, no. I mean, Morgan, not right now!"

MJ raised an eyebrow and Morgan pouted. "Why?"

"Yeah, Peter, why can't you tell me whatever you wanted to tell me now?" MJ teased.

Peter squirmed and he could feel the tin holding her necklace in his pocket.

"Tell her! Tell her! Tell her!" Morgan started chanting and MJ joined in. "Tell her! Tell her! Tell her!"

"Alright, alright!" Peter groaned and they immediately stopped, staring at him, waiting. "I, uh… I've wanted to tell you for a while, but didn't know how to say it. It's just, um, MJ, I -"

"Am Spider-Man," she finished for him and Morgan gasped.

"What? I'm not - No, of course not!"

"I mean, it's kind of obvious," MJ said.

"No, it's not, because I'm not Spider-Man."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. I'm definitely not Spider-Man."

"Right, so you just happen to get an internship with Tony Stark at the same time that he recruited Spider-Man to help out, and then proceeded to have, in the words of the wonderful Pepper Potts, a father-son relationship with him."

"Yes?" Peter squeaked.

"What about how you disappeared on the trip to D.C.?"

"I had that-that stomach thing!" he said. He glanced down at Morgan, to see the girl watching them with the same expression that she gives the tv when one of her cartoons are on. Something occurred to Peter and his heart sank. "Have you been watching me because you thought I was Spider-Man?"

MJ shifted in her seat, ducking her head slightly. "Yeah, why else would I?"

Silence fell over the gondola and Morgan looked between the two with a frown.

The sound of arguing came from below and the three looked down to see a woman arguing with the guy running the carousel as he started making everyone get off.

"What's going on?" Morgan asked and the teens shrugged.

Once they got closer to the ground, Peter recognized the woman. "Ms. Drew?"

The woman looked up at his voice for only a second before turning back to the man.

"Who's she?" MJ asked.

"Former MI6, works with Europol now, I think. She's a friend of Pepper's."

"I like the outfit."

Ms. Drew's blazer and business slacks were gone, replaced with a red and black leather jacket with yellow accents, sleek black pants, and red boots.

"What's going on?" Peter asked as they reached the bottom and were let off.

"My people got back to me. Your energy anomalies are back. They won't evacuate the city, but given both my team and Fury's are calling for it, they gave me the okay to clear out Old Town Square since it seems to be the center of the anomaly."

"Nice spider," MJ commented, nodding at the spider design on Ms. Drew's jacket.

"Long story, tell you later," she said with a wink towards Peter.

The group turned as people started screaming and they spotted molten metal climbing up the Jan Hus Memorial.

"You kids need to get going," Ms. Drew said, running forwards to help someone who'd fallen trying to get away back to his feet. When Mysterio came flying in, she looked over her shoulder. Her hand came up to her glasses, which lit up and expanded into a face mask. "Get Morgan out of here, this is being handled. Pepper, can you hear me? They're both here."

Peter bit his lip, but nodded. He held Morgan close with one arm and grabbed MJ's hand to keep her close as they took off down a side street. A part of him was screaming to go help, that Mr. Stark had made him an Avenger so he should be fighting, but he knew he could leave it to Mrs. Potts and Ms. Drew. His focus had to be on protecting Morgan and getting her somewhere safe.

He took a deep breath and pushed down all the grief-guilt-pain, focusing solely on the weight against his side and warmth in his hand.

"Is that Iron Man?" someone shouted and Peter glanced up just long enough to see the blue and silver of the Mark XLIX flying past before leading MJ down a less crowded alley.

They stopped for a moment to give her a chance to catch her breath and Peter shifted Morgan so she was on his back again. "You alright?" he asked them both.

Morgan nodded against his shoulder and MJ panted, "Yeah, you're just a lot faster than you look."

"I lost my glasses and crown," came Morgan's muffled whine.

Peter opened his mouth to comment, but suddenly he got hit by a very bad feeling. His hand shot out, shoving MJ back while his feet sent him the opposite way.

A blast of fire shot past where they'd been standing a second before.

"Oh my God!" MJ groaned from the ground.

"Sorry," Peter said, eyes darting about as he dug the glasses out of his pocket.

"I'm pretty sure you just saved me from being burned alive," she pointed out, getting back to her feet. "No apologies necessary."

"E.D.I.T.H.," he called as he got the glasses on his face. His wrists came down against each other.

_"Hello, Peter." _

He felt another tingle against the back of his neck and webbed Morgan's arms to his shoulders before scooping MJ up. He jumped into the air just before another blast of fire swept over the alley, landing on a fire escape. Another leap and they were on the roof.

"I was right?" MJ said in disbelief, clinging to his jacket and staring at the webbing keeping Morgan from falling off his back.

"You said you knew!"

"I was only like sixty-seven percent sure," she admitted, getting down and taking a step towards the edge of the building to peak over. "What was that?"

"Mysterio."

"The superhero from Venice?"

"He's not a superhero, he's a fraud," Peter said, now convinced. "The water monster was fake, holograms. He's just some illusionist with a petty grudge against Mr. Stark."

He felt a twinge and was already turning when a voice called out, "Petty? That hurts, Peter."

Mysterio glared at them from across the roof and Peter placed himself between the villain and MJ.

"You know, I was just starting to like you, but then you had to drag Potts into this." He smirked and tilted his head. "You didn't honestly think I wouldn't find out about you talking to her, did you? I've got eyes everywhere."

"Don't do this, Rinehart. We both know you can't win."

"Do we? Why?" Mysterious chuckled. "Because I'm not a drunken playboy in a fancy suit or a freak who's daddy gave him a tactical intelligence system as a reward for not being able to keep the guy alive?"

MJ set her hand on his shoulder and it was probably to give him support after the last part of Mysterio's comment. However, Peter hadn't noticed it, too focused on something else.

Daddy? How could Mysterio know anything about that? He knew the man wasn't anywhere near as omniscient as he was trying to make himself out to be so how could he know about Peter's _supposed _father-son relationship with Mr. Stark.

Unless he was in contact with someone who knew what Mrs. Potts said about him and Tony to his class.

"Big words coming from a glorified special effects artist," MJ scoffed. "Peter is more of a hero than even your fictional counterpart could ever be."

"Petey's going to be the best, just like daddy was," Morgan agreed, peaking over at Mysterio for just a second to glare before burying her face back in Peter's shoulder.

"Just like daddy, huh? Well far be it from me to stop a kid from growing up to be just like his father." A half dozen drones suddenly uncloaked themselves to show they were surrounding the kids. "How about we skip to the end?"

MJ tucked herself against Peter's back and he was both glad Morgan had a little more cover, and terrified for his crush. Why did his Peter Tingle - and yeah, he was never letting Aunt May name anything ever again - have to be messing up right now? He thought it was finally coming back, but he didn't feel anything from the drones, even as they readied to fire. All he was getting was the growing nudging from Mysterio's direction.

Wait.

"Goodbye, little Starks," Mysterio said, tapping at something on his wrist.

Peter's hand shot out and a string of web flew past the drones, over Mysterio's head, and hit midair. He pulled down.

Mysterio and the drones disappeared in a shimmer of blue as the drone he'd hit slammed into the ground.

"Where'd the bad man go?" Morgan asked, looking up a little.

"He wasn't real," MJ said shakily, still clinging to Peter's sides.

"It was another trick," Peter confirmed. "We need to get out of here before he sends more."

"Where do we go?" MJ asked, releasing her grip.

"E.D.I.T.H., can you connect to the Mark XLIX?"

_"Of course." _

"E.D.I.T.H.?" MJ asked, while Mrs. Potts picked up at nearly the same time to say, _"Peter, what's wrong?" _

"Gift from Mr. Stark," he explained quickly, gesturing to the glasses. "Mrs. Potts, we were right about Mysterio."

_"I know. I've managed to hit a few of the drones on accident. F.R.I.D.A.Y. is trying to scan the drones' signal so she can target them, but whatever energy pulses their using to disrupt the surveillance systems are also effecting the suit's scanners. Wait, how do you know that?" _

"He sent a drone after us."

_"What!?" _

"We're okay," Peter said quickly, holding up his hands even if she couldn't see them. "I took it down. But he knows we've figured him out, and also apparently he found out about you calling me Mr. Stark's kid so he's really not happy with Morgan and me."

_"F.R.I.D.A.Y., let Jess know what's happening and give me the Unibeam. We're going to just take them all down at once." _

_"Got it, Mrs. Boss." _

_"Peter, try to find somewhere to hide yourselves. I'll be there soon." _

"Alright," he agreed. He looked around with a frown. "E.D.I.T.H. what would be a good place to hide?"

_"Searching… There appears to be some reasonably abandoned warehouses a mile away that could provide cover," _she said and a navigation arrow appeared in his view.

"That'll have to do." He turned to MJ. "You should go. We're the ones he's after."

"Yeah, and he also saw me with you and knows I know how shady he is," MJ said with a shrug. "You can't get rid of me that easy."

Peter wanted to argue, but couldn't. Instead, he picked her up bridal-style and started running.

"Hey!" She shrieked, wrapping her arms around him and Morgan.

Peter leaped over a small street to land on a roof across the street.

"Nevermind," she breathed, shoving her face into his neck. "Tell me when it's over."

"Sorry," he said, not stopping. He glanced over his shoulder at Morgan for just a second before refocusing. "How're you doing, Lady Morgana?"

"Is the bad man chasing us?"

"Not right now, but we need to hide before he can find us again."

"Okay. Petey?"

Peter carefully ran across a pole that bridged two buildings across a larger street. "Yeah?"

"Can we do this again when a bad man isn't chasing us?"

MJ gave a choked laugh.

"Yeah, milady," he agreed. "As long as your mom's okay with it. Maybe I can even take you swinging around New York."

"Can we swing now?" the younger girl asked, fully pulling her face away from his shoulder for the first time since Mysterio had attacked them.

"I don't think MJ'd like that, sorry."

"I _will _kill you, Parker," came MJ's agreeing growl.

"Please, MJ?" Morgan pouted.

"Don't bother. I have to see Peter every day at school. I've developed an immunity to puppy faces."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Peter asked, hopping down to the ground outside the warehouses.

"You have the biggest puppy face."

He set her on her feet, frowning. "No, I don't."

She gave him a haggard smirk. "You're literally doing it right now."

"Am not."

"Are too," Morgan giggled.

Peter glanced between the two girls before sighing. "Let's just find some cover."

Morgan held her hand up as high as she could with her arm still attached to Peter and MJ gave her a high five.

Making use of a broken window, the three slipped inside a warehouse full of crates.

"I'm going to call Ned, see if he and the others got away alright and let them know we're okay," Peter said, but MJ shook her head.

"I'll do it. You keep an eye out for Stan Winston."

Peter shot her an affronted look. "Don't sully his name like that!"

MJ rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone.

As she walked off slightly to make the call, Peter paced around the warehouse. He considered putting Morgan down, but he felt more comfortable having her close.

"Everyone's fine at the hotel," MJ said, coming over. "We were the only ones missing. Ned's telling Harrington we're taking shelter until the danger's gone. He acted weird about it until I told him I knew you were Spider-Man. Then he got all diffident, talking about how he knew first. It was great."

A twitch near his ear.

"Have you heard anything from -" MJ started before immediately falling silent as he swung around.

"It didn't have to be this way," Mysterio's voice called out, echoing around the warehouse. "The plan was only to destroy Stark's legacy. All you had to do was give us the glasses. But you just couldn't help yourself, and now I see the truth."

A figure stepped out of the shadows and Peter's throat closed up.

"The true Stark legacy," Tony Stark said, arms held wide. "A pair of brats just as whiny and selfish as their father, constantly dragging others into their problems."

"Daddy?"

Anything Peter felt from seeing Mr. Stark in front of him again was washed away in a wave of pure fury at the small voice right in his ear.

Peter slipped his arms out of his jacket so he could pass Morgan to MJ. "Watch her for me."

Anger danced in her eyes as she took the younger girl. "Kick his ass. I got her."

She ducked behind some crates as he spun around and jumped. His hand shot out, grabbing the ceiling with one web and a drone with the other. Closing his eyes, he let his sixth sense - Spidey-sense? - take over. With a twist, the drone crashed into another while his foot hit a third.

Then he was dancing through the air, taking down drone after drone with feet and fists and the occasional web when one would get too close to the girls' hiding place.

The fight felt like it was over in a heartbeat and soon enough Peter was perched on the ceiling, his shoes having been lost somewhere in the scramble. He carefully scanned the warehouse, taking in the dozen or so drones smashed on the ground.

"MJ?"

"We're okay," she called, stepping out from behind the crates.

Peter lowered himself on a web before flipping onto his feet. "Hey, Morgan, how are you feeling?" he asked, looking over the two for injuries despite MJ's assurance.

The younger girl looked up at him with wide eyes. "It was just like one of daddy's stories!"

He wasn't sure if he should be worried or relieved that she was excited about the near-death experiences of the night. He ran her fingers through her hair and gave a hesitant laugh. "Yeah, I'll bet. How about we call your mom now?"

"You know, maybe you're not as much of a waste of time as I thought you were."

Peter spun around with a gasp, surprised to see the fake Tony Stark leaning against some crates on the other side of the warehouse. His spidey-sense hadn't picked up the figure at all. No, wait, there was a low buzz in his head. Whatever this illusion was, it was threatening, but not a current threat.

He stepped forward, keeping himself between the girls and _Tony. _"It's over, Beck."

"Over? Hardly. You might have Rinehart and his little film crew running for the hills to lick their wounds, but they'll be back soon enough."

"You say that like you're not one of them," MJ said.

_Tony _shrugged, and then with a holographic flicker, it was Dimitri standing in his place. "I'm not, though I certainly let them think I was. It wasn't hard. Let them think I had a grudge against Stark and they let me right in."

"If you don't hate Mr. Stark, then why are doing this? Who are you?" Peter asked.

"Who am I?" Dimitri smirked, then it was Mysterio smirking at him, then Fury, Hill, Pepper, a few people Peter recognized from Ms. Drew's photos, a few people Peter didn't recognize at all, before the figure finally settled on someone in a grey and blue suit wearing a featureless mask. "I'm whoever I want to be, kid," a modulated voice answered. "As for joining up with Rinehart, I knew he'd be able to get me close to my real target: You."

"Me? What would you want with me?"

The figure stepped away from the boxes and held out their arms. Their form changed to Spider-Man, in all his red, black, and blue glory.

"The Amazing Spider-Man," he said and a shiver went down Peter's spine at hearing his own voice coming from the imposter. "An Avenger recruited by the late, great Tony Stark himself. Capable of easily stopping a speeding car with his bare hands. Can go toe-to-toe with the likes of Captain America and the Winter Soldier. Videos of the airport battle are everywhere, and they all show you holding your own against multiple Avengers, all on your first day on the job. Then there was your face off with that alien arms ring. It's no wonder my brother took an interest in you, even before this whole _The Next Iron Man _thing started up."

"Your brother?"

"You should have seen how disappointed he was when he realized you got swept up in the Blip," he said, shaking his head. "Then we got the confirmation you were back and, well, can't say I'm surprised he called me up first chance he got to do a little scouting for him.

"Of course, I was a bit disappointed when I finally found you. Just a simpering kid playing pretend in daddy's suit, calling up mommy as soon as you don't get your way. Figured I'd just hand you over to Rinehart and not waste any more of my time. This, though," he gestured at the drones, "is far more promising. No suit, no fancy tech. Just some webs and your own skills. Guess you might be worth a hunt after all."

"What are you talking about? Who are you? Who's your brother? What do you mean hunt?"

"You'll figure it out soon enough." He gave a salute then darted behind the crates.

Peter tried to follow, but all he found was an open door leading to a semi-crowded street. He looked around, but knew the stranger could be anyone. "Did you see where he went, E.D.I.T.H.?"

_"I'm sorry, Peter. He disappeared into a crowd. I've taken a sample of the energy output of his suit for future use, but he is out of range of my short-range scanners and the output is too weak for my long-range ones." _

"That's alright, you did your best."

"Peter!"

Relief washed over him for only a second when the Mark XLIX landed next to him before he was back on alert. He took a step back into the warehouse and held up his hand. "Are you real?"

Mrs. Potts' helmet retracted and she gave him an understanding look. "The first time Tony and I had you over for dinner, you walked in on me lecturing him about how pizza wasn't a proper meal for a growing boy, especially given your enhancements."

"But a supreme pizza covers all the food groups," Peter recited Tony's response and she rolled her eyes.

"Are you okay? Where's Morgan?" she asked, stepping inside to get away from the gawking crowd.

"I'm fine. We all are. MJ has her. Some drones showed up, but I took them down," he said, leading her around the crates.

"Mommy!" Morgan shouted as soon as they came into sight. She wiggled free of MJ's grip and ran towards them, skipping over the broken drones.

Pepper's armor peeled away, the nanobots reforming into a briefcase, which she set down to catch her daughter.

Peter immediately picked it up without thinking.

"Is he gone?" MJ whispered, giving Pepper a suspicious look.

"He's gone, and I made sure she was really Mrs. Potts," he whispered back.

She bumped her shoulder against his. "I think between that weirdo and Mysterio I'm going to be suspicious of everyone for a while."

"Tell me about it. Maybe we should come up with secret code words."

MJ snorted. "You're such a loser."

Their gazes met for just a second before they both looked away.

Pepper finished giving Morgan a thorough look over, sighing fondly at her still webbed up arms, then set the girl on her hip and turned back to the teens. "Come on, Happy should be here to take us back to your hotel."

"Happy's here?" Peter asked as the headed back to the door.

"Yes. He was with May when I called her to let her know what was happening and insisted on coming along."

Peter's face screwed up at the reminder of… whatever it was that was going on between Happy and Aunt May.

A limo was waiting for them when they came out and Pepper opened the door so the teens could climb in first. "What about Mysterio?"

"I just got off the phone with Fury and Agent Arachne," Happy called from the front. "They found the EMP that was disrupting the surveillance systems, but he and his crew are in the wind. They're trying to work with Europol and the Czech government to set up some stop points to help track them down."

"But you kids don't need to worry about any more of that tonight," Pepper said, tapping away at her phone. "I'm having F.R.I.D.A.Y. send some room service up to your rooms. You kids just eat then get some rest, okay? We can talk about what happened tonight in the morning. Ms. Jones, you're a flexitarian, correct?"

MJ blinked. "Uh, yeah, how did you know?"

Pepper gave her a smile. "Peter has told us a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet you?"

MJ looked over at him and he made a valiant effort to become one with the car seat. "It's nice to meet you too," she said, turning back to Pepper. "You're one of my favorite female icons."

"Thank you, I try to be a good role model." She gave Peter a wink and stage-whispered, "I like her."

Peter buries his face in his hands. "Happy, can I climb up there with you?"

The divider rolling up was his only response.

One of these days, Peter was going to remind the man that he had super hearing and could easily hear through the divider. It did nothing to stop him from hearing the man listening to cheesy pop music and it did nothing to stop him from hearing the man laughing at his misfortune.

* * *

Since Peter's room was past MJ's on the way from the stairs, he had the perfect excuse to walk her to her room.

"Hey," he said as she opened her door. "I'm, uh, sorry about tonight. You shouldn't have gotten dragged into all that. I -"

Peter was cut off as a pair of lips brushed against his own.

"Just," MJ started, pulling away, "never carry me around like that again and we'll call it even."

"O-okay… what?"

She shrugged and looked away. "I might have been lying earlier. I wasn't just watching you because I thought you were Spider-Man."

"Oh, that's okay. Great. That's great!"

She nodded, a smile peeking out. She gave him another chaste kiss then quickly disappeared into her room.

By the time Peter remembers the necklace in this pocket, he's already laying face down in his room with a wide grin on his face.

* * *

**Five words: Dimitri was in the bar**


End file.
